FOR this assignment we were asked to use colored pencils. I like using colored pencils but there are some drawbacks. It takes quite a lot of pressure on the pencil to get the desired shade for the darkest areas. This can create a bit of cramping in the fingers. Also, colored pencils require constant sharpening as the color gets used faster than a regular graphite pencil. And a main disadvantage is that colored pencils are almost (but not quite) impossible to erase. The advantage of colored pencils is you don’t have to guess the tone from object to object because the color in the pencil takes the place of that.

I chose some objects with good color varieties. I did resort to the internet for a few of them like the gum ball machine, pinwheel, and butterfly. My array of colored pencils couldn’t always match the color in the object but I went with what was the closest representation.

You can use colored pencils just like graphite pencils. They work it the same exact way (obviously both being pencils). That means you can adjust tone and shade by varying degrees of pressure on the pencil. You can use different strokes to achieve different results. I would say since graphite pencils can get a little sharper than colored pencils that graphite pencils can achieve a little more detail. I’m sure there are better artists who would disagree, but that’s been my general experience using colored pencils. They are softer too, so they dull easier.

I’ve included some examples of my work in the slideshow above.